Roll Call is reporting that in September, soon to be former Congressman Dan Lungren (R-CA) secretly approved a $500,000 increase in a contract with a private law firm to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). This is the second increase in funding allocated to Bancroft PLLC and former Solicitor General, Republican Paul Clement, to spend up to $2 million to defend the law in federal court. The contract was originally set at $500,000 and was raised on September 29, 2011 to $1.5 million and again on September 28, 2012 to its current level.

Despite the raise in the contract cap taking place nearly three months ago, House Democrats and the public were not informed until December 13.